


bardo

by AnIntrovertedDumbass



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Buckle the fuck up, DreamTeamSuperpowered AU, Gen, Graphic depictions of violence - Freeform, I Tried, Rated For Violence, Rated for Mature Language, Superpowers, Swearing, Temporary Character Death, a fuck ton of mcyts, at all, background dnf, but im a lil squeamish, cant be too bad, dream team, for some of the worst writing youll ever see, gonna cry ph1lza minecraft isnt a known character tag, hehe, here we go., i say major character death but thats only technicality, i think, its just not the main focus, may be ooc but ill try my best, no beta we die like the people of l'manberg, sleepybois.inc, so HAHA, there we go lmao, vigilantes, will add tags as i go along bc spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:33:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26495701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnIntrovertedDumbass/pseuds/AnIntrovertedDumbass
Summary: What could be worse than dying?Hey, that's funny....Dying.And then the world faded out of focus as pain turned sharply to numbness, and into an inky, void black.The official DreamTeam Supowered AU is here! This is will be my first ever, like, official project fanfiction. So yeah, hope yall enjoy reading this hahaahsgdfdhkjhelp
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Darryl Noveschosch, Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch, GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 72





	1. introductions and prologue

**Author's Note:**

> i say DreamTeam but really, I plan on including so many other MCYTs and streamers in here. Updates will be slow, but each chapter is probably (hopefully) long enough to make it worth it! there'll be. a lot of chapters lol bc this is. a wholeass PROPER story with planning and all that jazz, i cant believe it tbh
> 
> also.
> 
> According to ao3 statistics only a small percentage of people who read my fics are actually subscribed/left kudos/comments or bookmarked my fics. So if you end up enjoying this video consider doing any of the above--it's free and you can always undo it. 
> 
> Enjoy the fic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its basically the first three chapters of the drabble book, all here. i figured it introduced the characters nicely, so im leaving it like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to the people who've read this: jskfkf im so sorry you can just skip past it 
> 
> to the people who havent: enjoy!
> 
> IF YOU GUYS SAW ME FUCK UP NO YOU DIDNT

Dream sighed as he saw the box of apple juice Sapnap had hurled at him. And sighed again at the way his friend's lips immediately curved down as Dream practically plucked it out of the air. 

"So. How many times now?" 

Raising two fingers sheepishly, Dream shrugged his shoulders with a forced nonchalance and did his best to sound jovial. "Relax! It'll be alright. I've made it 'til around, uh..." Tucking the box into the pocket of his hoodie to safekeep for George, he held his hands out in front of him, mimicking a progress bar with his fingers. "I've hit the 6 pm mark. That's like... more than half the day. A whole 3/4 quarters of the day, over!"

"...And you won't tell me anything until you absolutely need to," Sapnap shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face. "Alright, dude. Just, remember, we're here for you, so when you figure it out- call us." Grinning lopsidedly, he tapped his phone. "I even changed the ringtone for your calls. That's only for extra important people, Dreamy-poo."

Dream smiled at that under the mask, warmth blooming softly through his chest. "I...yeah. Got it. Thanks, Sappitus. Call you later?"  
"Anytime." Sapnap shouldered his backpack, heading out of the office. "Free day today- but I guess you knew that already, huh?"

***

Dream.

The leader of the Dream Team, the man behind the mask was known for his strategic genius, his incredible agility and speed, and for being one of the best protectors, especially one without any sort of physical manifestation of powers that the country had ever seen. 

Dream's power? The ability to see the future. Despite it never really being confirmed by any of the Dream Team or their affiliates, most people simply assumed so. How else would you explain the dodges, the ability to know exactly what, where and when something would happen? It was the most logical reasoning, and Dream himself had answered, albeit vaguely, that yes, that was "sorta it". 

Of course, Dream was thankful for his actual power.

Right now, though? 

Seeing the future was much, much more preferable. 

As he fell to his rather cinematic death, he found himself wishing that time would reset itself faster. Preferably before he became a Dream-shaped _splat_ on the pavement, but, hey, we don't all get what we want. Crashing into the pavement, he felt his spine crack, shatter, and he gasped in pain. Not the first, but definitely not common. Pain shot up his entire body, and he was absolutely certain that every single bone in his body was absolutely fucked, fragmented or shattered. As glass rained down on him, he closed his eyes and tried not to cry. An anguished shriek reached his ears (based off the last day, that should be Sapnap, too late, and- ow, holy shit, this was a worse run than yesterday). Cracking an eye open, he knew his friends were probably panicking, approximately only...10 stories up. He felt a twinge of guilt, knowing they was probably worried out of his mind, believing Dream was...well. Not in great shape. As Dream felt his vision dim around the edges and eyelids droop, the last thing he registered was a great, dark-winged creature -Bad?- a shrill cry-

Dream sat up with a start, eyes snapping open. A quick glance at glowing neon numbers told him it was 12:00 am, and it had just turned Monday. 

Sighing, Dream stared hard at the wall, before letting out a shaky laugh.

Officially the third Monday, now. 

Blindly flopping his hand around the bedside table, he slapped the alarm on, snuggling back into soft blankets.

At exactly 7:02, Dream woke up, feeling significantly less dead, and less tired. Dragging himself to the bathroom, he stripped quickly and toed into the shower, humming. Quickly he glanced at his watch (It was waterproof and fire-resistant, okay? There was no reason to take it off. Plus, it was a gift from Bad, tempered by George, and tested by Sapnap.) and tried to recall the events of the past two runs. 

This particular Monday was, well, a bitch. Of course, there were days Dream let pass with no resets, as there simply wasn't anything to do, no one to save, nothing major going wrong. That meant no reason to recklessly throw himself in harm's way, and no reason to die. Briefly, he considered staying over at the office today. It was a second home to the trio, and it wasn't rare for one or more to be found on the couch. Besides, he needed to work on paperwork, too. Provided he didn't die while dealing with the shooting situation at 5, later. Smacking his palm against his head as though it'd drive away the headache already beginning to form, Dream sighed for the millionth time. 

God, there was that coding project he promised he'd help George with too, wasn't there?

Humming tapering off, Dream put his head against cold tile and allowed himself five more minutes to simply rest. No thoughts, head empty, water pounding against his back. 7:05 am. At 7:10, he'd get out, and start this Monday again. 

Third time's the charm, right?

\---

George worried his bottom lip between his teeth nervously. Glancing at his screen as deft fingers moved over the keyboard, mouse clicking incessantly as his character bobs and weaves between projectiles. Really, it was entirely Sapnap's fault for suggesting he widen his already impressive collection of games. Leaning forward towards the monitor, George's character dashes away, only for the colour to drain from his screen once more, question mark pings filling his screen. Sinking back into his chair, George glared as Sapnap tutted disapprovingly. 

"Why on earth did you think getting me to play this dumb game was a good idea?" 

Sapnap stretched and grinned toothily. "That's cause it IS a good idea! Think about the items! The characters! The abilities! It's not my fault you're such a noob." Standing up, Sapnap patted George's head condescendingly, snatching his hand back when George reached to swat it away. Laughing, he said something about a college project to do, and left, blowing George a kiss.

Gross, George thought, blowing a raspberry at the back of his friend. Turning back to the game, biting back a screech as his character came far too close to dying once more...And he had just made it back to lane, too.

Despite being the support of the Dream Team, George's face was probably the most well known among the trio. Then again, it's not like Dream or Sapnap was one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, despite Dream's insistence that he could definitely beat George in views, easily, if he tried. Suuuure, George had said, laughing. Sure he could. Awfully bold words for a man who could play exactly one game well. 

Besides, who was he to challenge someone whose entire life literally revolved around gaming? George didn't play so many games for no reason- well, yes, they were fun, but that was beside the main point. George's power, nicknamed Video Game by tabloids, named Video Games by George, allowed him to pull commands, items, and abilities from a single game at a time. George relied mainly on Minecraft commands, the game simply clicked with him, and he could often be found providing support from the air as he levitated in Creative, keeping a close eye on surroundings and his team. According to Dream, Creative in real life didn't mean that George was immune to attacks or damage and that armor would be easily shred through, trust him- Dream had grimaced, meticulously describing every single little thing that could go wrong, a slight tremor in his voice, and George had huffed a nervous laugh in response after promising to be careful. _At least it never actually happened, right? I'm fine, you idiot._ Dream wore a pained smile, but he had nodded.

Despite the occasional glitch when coding passed into reality now and then, George loved his power. Seriously, who wouldn't? His main game was always Minecraft, creative allowing him to shoot infinite magic arrows, heal his friends, use cheats and so much more. Most cheats, anyway, as Dream had shaken his head curtly, once when George wondered aloud what would happen if he changed the time. Propping his head in his hands, he considered his options for the day, snagging his phone from its charging station. He had wanted to play League for the most of the day, but with the way things were going...maybe he would be much better off simply reading the wiki for items- it wasn't like he could pull characters straight from the game, anyway. Probably.

But for now, he wanted to be productive, even if today was a rare off day. Dream had checked in at the office early this morning, restocked the snack fridge with frozen pizza, a text message about a copywriting, and a single sticky note -Do NOT touch the pizza!!- scrawled, underlined, and circled in black marker. So probably not free, and Sapnap just left. Scrolling through his twitter feed idly, George considered streaming. It wasn't exactly on schedule, but it wasn't like he followed a strict schedule for streams, anyway, not as a hero. He could reorganize his games, or try to get League of Legends onto the glasses. And there was that new plugin he wanted to try coding, and that other recorded video he planned to upload in...a week or so. Fingers hovering over his phone, he sighed. Dragging himself away from the computer, George flopped onto the sofa. He'd probably go for lunch soon, then head home or...something. Maybe he'd try to make homemade apple juice. Dream had boiled him two whole jugs of it once, then used the leftover apple slices to make apple crumble. George's mouth watered at the thought. Honestly, it was pretty unfair that the man was so good at so many things, but, whatever. It's not like he was gonna complain, especially not when the man was so keen on doing things for his friends. Making up his mind, he began the long scroll up Dream's messages to find the recipe.

***

He knew he should have brought his glasses. What kind of idiot was he? For fuck's sake, of _course_ , the fucking grocery store would be robbed, and he would leave his glasses at the office. Didn't Dream specifically remind him to wear them today? Jesus. Crouching, he peered over at the cashier from behind a shelf of assorted sugar and pulled out his phone. There were two of the goons, faces obscured by Halloween masks. One at the counter was yelling profanities at old Miss Cheng -bastard- while waving...something, undoubtedly a weapon of some sort. Another was between the doors and the rest of the store, a shotgun in hand. There was some weird...yellow goop on the door, sealing them all in. The security guard- god, where was he? George's eyes landed on a vaguely humanoid-shaped pile of goo. Alarm rose in his throat- he really, really hoped the man was simply incapacitated. All the other customers were gathered at the front of the store, kneeling with hands behind their back.  
Snapping a picture he hoped wasn't too blurry, George sent it and his location to the DreamTeam group chat. Quickly, George considered his options. Two on one and he had no way of making sure everyone would be safe, much less any way of actually being able to incapacitate the men. So he would just have to sit tight until Dream came- preferably with friends- to the rescue. Swallowing, George shifted, flicking through his phone. Opening Minecraft on instinct, he glanced behind him, paranoid. But there was no one there, which was weird. Only two...for one grocery store...in a shopping mall. Hazarding a glance towards the men, he shook his head. What powers might some assholes robbing the grocery store possess? George watched as the man at the door sealed a gunny sack shut with...ew. He cringed as the man spat out an alarming amount of yellow goop onto his hands, then rubbed it all along the bag, pressing the opening together. Alright, disgusting. Glancing back at his phone, he opened his creative inventory and concentrated, a staticky buzz filling his head as the objects formed in his bag, in his pockets. For now, at the very least, he could plan a distraction.

An abnormally large hand grabbed him by the back of his jacket and yanked. His phone skidded onto the tiled floor. Choking out a yell, George scrabbled at the hands around his neck as he was lifted off his feet. Dangled like a prize. Warm breath down his neck. A sickly sweet voice.

So, three goons, and he was _caught_. 

Bloody _fucking_ fantastic.

\-----

Sapnap was already out the door the moment he saw George's message. He slammed the door shut, twisted the keys into the lock, and ran it down the hallway. Taking the stairs down --two steps, three, four, holy SHIT, back to two a time-- Sapnap patted down his pockets. Phone, keys, lighter. That was good enough for him-- as if he was gonna turn around anyway. Making it to the ground floor, Sapnap sprinted to the main road and very nearly collided with the motorcycle that screeched to a halt. Glaring at the driver, Sapnap got on behind him, catching the helmet and knapsack thrown haphazardly in his direction.

"Took you long enough. Did you know you were at least five seconds faster last run?" Dream shook his head in mock disappointment, but the worry was evident in his voice-- Sapnap could sense it. Maybe it was the years of being friends, maybe it was the way he knew Dream had died thrice so far today.

Fastening the helmet and shrugging the bag on, Sapnap flipped his friend off. "Just-just go. fill me in on the way." Wrapping his arms around the other man's torso, he prayed they wouldn't both fall off as Dream sped through the streets.

"Alright. I've called Bad-- he'll be at the mall by, uh...I forgot, but he'll be on time, probably. Oh, right! Hold on to the bag at least until we reach the mall. Uh, didn't go so well last time." Sapnap risked taking a hand away from Dream to cradle the bag closer to his chest. "George's goggles, gloves, and your wrist bands, uh, ethanol; trust me on that." Turning a sharp corner, Sapnap tightened his grip on Dream once more, breath catching in his throat. _Jesus Christ._ "And earpieces."

Sapnap nodded, then realized Dream probably didn't see that. "Yeah, okay. Um... will George be alright?" 

"Probably. Right now he's in a..." Coming to a stop outside the building, Dream hopped off the bike, tucking the keys into a pocket. "He's... I don't think he can move or talk, but he's probably alright. Didn't make it far enough last time." Sapnap strapped his wristbands on, mulling over the situation. 

"So there's two of them--" "Three. Mostly armed, I think-- one has a shotgun, another has a...parang. The last one has..." Dream twirled his baton, eyebrows furrowed behind his visor. "Brass knuckles? Lots of muscle: a juggernaut, I guess? They're all at the entrance. Sliding doors are sealed with something, definitely a power. That's two powers down, but..." Watching the way his friend's mouth twisted into a grimace, Sapnap suppressed a sigh. 

"Okay. So-- three of them, one big guy, one...sticky guy, and another one with unknown powers. Cool. Any plan?" Following his friend into the empty mall --at least it seemed like everyone was out safe, probably thanks to the Dream's warning call. Dream flashed his hero license at the security guard, and Sapnap flashed his best _I'm-here-to-save-the-day_ grin.

"Yeah-- I found out something new, last round. So long as everything goes according to plan...we've got this."

***

Sapnap, the offense often found at front lines of any fight. One of the youngest in the city to earn a protector's license. (Dream had loudly proclaimed, multiple times, that was completely unfair that Sapnap got all the clout, even though Dream was only a year older. Sapnap had pointed out that Dream _had_ enough clout, especially as their leader, and that he could fuck right off.) Taking it in stride, Sapnap somehow balanced college while acting as a part-time hero. Rubbing his wrists together, he grinned as a small flame curled out from between the bands. Primarily designed by Sapnap himself with theoretical input from the rest of his friends, the bands on his wrist did a little more than look cool. And support his wrists. The flame hung in the air for the tenth of a second, and then it was between his fingers. Gathering the fire into his palm, Sapnap admired it for a moment, revelling in the warmth and weird --but undeniably awesome-- feeling of fire dancing on him.

Focusing, he imagined grabbing the fire by the metaphorical neck, leashing it. Cool --hot? no, _lit_ \-- as it was, fire was fire, and the practised control Sapnap had over it had always been precise! Despite what some...unfortunate criminals might say. Crouched beside a pillar near the store, the duo had already run the plan through with one another-- and Bad, who was hopefully nearby. They had less than a minute, approximately, before the robbers left the store and upgraded their status to murderers in the following scuffle. Dream hadn't exactly confirmed if anyone had gotten killed in the last two runs, but even though he refused to elaborate the grim tone of his voice was enough. No-- they had to catch them mostly by surprise, this time. The fire grew as it raced across his skin, and his arm was engulfed in seconds, flames licking but not burning his sleeves; that's just how good he was, really. Anyone who said otherwise was simply unlucky, or just stupid. Passing the fire to his other arm, he smirked at Dream, who tsked in response, his visor hiding what was probably an eye-roll. Holding up a hand, Dream whispered numbers into the visor.

Five. Sapnap made a circle with his fingers, placing a hand behind it. 

Four. Next to him, Dream gripped his baton as it extended to twice its original length.

Three. They walked towards the glass doors slowly. 

Two. Dream ran towards the glass doors, as Sapnap lined the O towards the centre of the door. 

One.

A concentrated blast of fire shot out from his palm in a red hot stream, colliding with the doors as the sealant melted off. Dream shoved the glass doors open, and a man with a shotgun turned, far too late. Dream bent, and swung the baton at the man's feet in a single movement. The man fell with a yell, and then Sapnap couldn't do more than hope his friend was doing alright as he ran past them. There was so much yelling, and Sapnap launched a wave of fire at the guy at the counter, who was yelled and scrambled backwards. Pulling and unscrewing the bottle of ethanol, Sapnap emptied the bottle in a ring around a bunch of shoppers, then lit the whole thing on fire. There was a collective shocked gasp as a wall of flame separated them from the rest of the store. 

"Get out, move, go!" Sapnap frantically helped people to their feet and ushered them out. Two, four, seven-- his counted silently as he knelt next to the elderly guard to carefully melt the goo around his body. Issuing him instructions to get everyone out of the building and away, the man had nodded gravely and thanked him, before turning and running. Dream said the big one had George. The problem was that they were both nowhere to be found. At the back of the store, maybe? After double-checking that there was probably no one else in the store, Sapnap dragged a hand through the wall of fire as it dissipated with a sizzle. He took in a shaky breath as he felt a rush of power as the fire concentrated in his palm --pleasure, and a little bit of pain-- you know, the usual feelings of channeling a state of combustion. 

Scanning his surroundings, his body was already moving as he thought about what to do. Dream had told him to handle the man at the counter: "Keep him distracted- just buy us time." He'd deal with the goo and muscle guy, somehow. At least Dream had kept to his word on that. Goo guy was definitely handled-- dude was propped against the ice cream freezer, hands and feet zip-tied together, masking tape ( _ha_ ) wrapped around the bottom part of the man's mask. _Sucks to suck, asshole,_ Sapnap thought with little pity, and a lot more vitriol. Turning back to the counter, Sapnap stopped in his tracks. 

There was no one there. Confused and on guard, Sapnap did a slow 360. Where the hell...?

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and Sapnap yelped as he ducked. The air above him whooshed. Panicking, the fire on his arms flared up, and there was a hiss as a grinning cartoon skull appeared for a moment --the son of a bitch-- a gleaming, curved blade held in one hand. He could have _died_ , holy shit. 

Sapnap cursed as the skeletal grin disappeared again, and he fumbled for a moment with his earpiece for the microphone button as he bolted away, running for the metal shelves. Bobbing and weaving, he hoped he'd lose the man, just for a little while. After a few minutes of mindless running, he stumbled backwards, he pressed his back against a shelf, the metal edges digging into his back. Way better than a knife, anyhow. 

"Skull motherfucker has invis, and--" Raising his fists defensively, Sapnap set his arms aflame, hoping this guy wasn't crazy enough to try to try to slash at him-- a machete wasn't very good at stabbing, anyhow. "And it works on stuff." Grabbing a Frosty Flakes box in each hand, Sapnap held his soon-to-be-fireballs(boxes?) as he studied his surroundings. One invisible bastard. One smoking hot man. There was a loud crash from an aisle away, and Sapnap held his breath. Backing up into of a corner as much as he could, he peeked around a cardboard cutout of some Chinese character at the entrance to the cereal aisle. Please, please, please. The air shimmered for a brief second. Chucking the two boxes of cereal with a yell, Sapnap cheered as he heard a string of choice words --music to his ears-- and watched the boxes being haphazardly swatted to the side.

Apologizing internally to the cleanup crew, he emptied as much of the shelf as possible onto where he hoped the man still was, then attempted to dump as many boxes of cardboard as possible. It wasn't exactly a good plan, but Sapnap wasn't sure if he could fight the man without one of them ending up really, really hurt, so this would have to do. Satisfied, he turned and ran towards the sound of scuffling and hoped his friends were okay.

There was no response from Dream so far, which was okay. Bad, however, remained silent too; for a second Sapnap thought he'd screwed up with his earpiece, somehow. Then he heard the sound of lots of glass breaking. He started running to the back of the store to find-- 

"Dream!" His friend was kicking at the air, way too close to the broken window for comfort-- how the fuck was someone strong enough to smash a reinforced window?? Charging at the woman holding Dream by the neck, crashing into her, he felt panic rise in his throat as she simply stumbled slightly, barely losing her footing. _Fuck._ Dream choked out something. Sapnap had the good sense to get AWAY as a massive hand swiped for him. Lighting his torso on fire, Sapnap's mind raced. Dream would probably-- definitely not do so well being thrown off the, jeez, tenth floor? Oh man, oh man, oh man.

Slide to the left. Floor tiles cracked beneath a giant fist. Dream had stopped kicking as much. 

Sidestep to the right. He narrowed his eyes as he fed the flames in his palm. _Please._

 _Braced himself._

Sapnap ducked the next time the hand shot out, straight for him, _perfect_ , and he landed a solid, fiery, punch straight to the gut throwing all his momentum into the action. She staggered, flailing and Sapnap whooped-- but that turned quickly to horror as she let go of Dream, who was sent flying--

Sapnap ran forward, and he knew he was too far, too late--

Dream went right into what was left of the window, taking it with him--

A blur of black, zipping past--

"Dream!" Leathery wings flapped, then horns, then Bad's smiling face came into view. Dream clung to him like a koala, and if Sapnap wasn't close to the brink of tears from nearly killing his friend, he'd have laughed. He heard faint hysterical wheezing in his ears as Bad flashed a peace sign, other hand on his mic. 

"You-- son of a bitch! Y'all didn't tell me about this part of the plan, what the FUCK--"

"Hey, _language--_ behind you!" Sapnap very nearly fell out of the building as he scrambled away, landing hard on his butt. Rolling, he picked himself up and stumbled to a shelf. Dream, deposited gently, baton at the ready; Bad, trying to manuever in through the glass. Muscle woman was backing up, realizing she was probably outnumbered, but Dream was already running for her.

Sapnap felt his heart pause for what was probably the third time that day as he felt 

something

touch his hand. Lighting up his hands on instinct, he held a flaming fist out warily.

Staring hard at the seemingly empty corner, Sapnap warily held out a hand and felt around. Feeling his hand touch something slimy, and wet, he recoiled on instinct. 

Wait. "What the fuck?"

Grey fabric appeared from underneath the quickly melting goo. _Holy shit._ Frantic, he melted as much of the goo as possible away from who was probably George. Extinguishing the fire, he patted the area where George's neck should be. Coming into contact with warm skin that jolted under his touch, Sapnap let out a small cheer as the rest of George's body appeared. 

Ripping tape off of George's face, the Brit winced, then glared up at Sapnap. "Gee, nice of you to notice me." Sapnap smirked back at him as he struck another fire and began to work on setting his friend entirely free. 

"Aww. Georgie mad because he bad?" George rolled his eyes and stood up, wincing as he leaned on Sapnap.

"Haha, funny. Take my stuff. I've got strength, speed, health pots, and splash slowness," George pulled out the corresponding glass bottles as Sapnap tucked them into pockets, handing George his glasses and gloves in turn. "Oh. Thanks."

"Thank Dream- and stay here. You don't... look so good." Sapnap glanced at his friend, then back towards where Bad and Dream were both attempting to subdue the mutant in some way. "Drink an invis or something-- stay safe. Oh yeah, and a rope would be good. We're doing Plan R-- alright, it's starting!" Turning away before George had a chance to answer, Sapnap jogged towards the other end of the shop.

"Hey, Moto-Moto!" Launching a ribbon of fire at the woman, he jumped up, solidifying the flames-- how? He didn't know, but he was glad he figured it out. It wrapped around her hand, and she let out a guttural yell, sweeping her other hands out bringing down a shelf that had miraculously been standing. Dream advanced on her, baton hitting the back of her knees with a thwack as she kneeled unwillingly, blindly reaching back to where Dream was standing a moment ago. Throwing what he remembered was the slowness bottle at the woman, it smashed against her chest. His guess was confirmed by the way she suddenly, well, slowed, and George's soft "Yes!" behind him. 

"Catch!" A glowing bundle of ropes sailed through the air. Bad caught it with a thanks, and Sapnap prepared himself. Making another rope of fire, Sapnap managed to lasso it around her other wrist, much to his delight. He yanked the ropes together, forcing her hands to as she pulled back, and Sapnap wondered, briefly, if his arms could pop right out of his shoulders. He stood firm, fire flaring up around his feet and digging into the cracks between tiles. Bad and Dream worked fast, one pulling the rope around her thighs, the latter dancing around her arms as he looped the rope around them. Sapnap tried really hard not to think about how much it'd hurt to dislocate an arm. 

The Dream and Bad backed away fast, and Sapnap let go, falling back on his butt, again. Man, today was just great, wasn't it? Muscle woman thrashed, but the rope held firm-- in fact, it was glowing purple...enchantments! Siiiick. Sapnap stood up, punching a fist into the air. "Let's fu--muffin gooooo!!" 

Feeling an arm wrap around his neck, however, ruined the mood real fast. Sapnap felt his heart drop into his stomach as cold round circles were pressed under his chin, heard the gasp from Bad and Dream swear through the mask. Glancing down at the shotgun from the corner of his eyes, he felt himself freeze, ironically.

"Untie my associates. Or this asshole--" He felt the man press the gun into his throat. "Gets his brains blown out." 

Dream had his lips pressed into a tight line. Bad's wings fluttered. Sapnap couldn't even light himself up. The man holding him adjusted the gun. 

Dream held his hands up in a placating gesture, an easy grin on his face. "Now, let's talk this out a little--"

"One." Quiet, cold, ruthless, Bad's eyes widened, and he turned to muscle woman, who was smirking smugly.

"Two." Dream clenched his fists, walking stiffly to where Bad was.

"That's more like it. After that, you're letting us walk away. I'll take care of lil SappyNappy here until I'm sure we're not followed. I'm sure you saw that future, didn't you, Dream?" The man chuckled, light and oozing with malice. "You know, I never thought I'd ever be able to go against so many heroes and win."

And then the pressure of the shotgun was gone, and Sapnap caught a glimpse of nearly translucent whirls as the shotgun was ripped out of the man's grasp. The man cried out in shock, and Sapnap was shoved to the side, and the man tackled. Sapnap fell to his knees, rubbing his neck. Holy shit. He took it all back! Today was pretty great. Nearly dying does that to ya sometimes.

George shimmered into view, the invis potion wearing off. A knee on his chest, hands on his shoulder, and multiple downright murderous glares pinned the man down.

"See, that's the issue here. You _don't_ win." The man struggled, but George didn't budge, and Sapnap noticed the red whirls around his body. Strength, if he remembered correctly.

"You can't kill me! You can barely even hurt me! You're meant to be a hero, aren't you? Then-" 

George punched the man, once -- _"Hit them slightly above the chin, trust me," Dream had grinned and tapped the area,_ \-- and the man passed out. Standing up, George wiped his hands on his jeans, making a disgusted face. 

"Pretty pog, if I do say so myself." 

The sound of four grown men cracking up replaced tense silence, and Sapnap sat back on his heels, feeling the adrenaline rush through and out of him as he laughed along.

Man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so thats our three favourite bois. next chapter is nearly done lol i'll upload it in...at most twenty four hours time, this chap was so my draft didnt get fckng deleted and also bc it works as a better intro than anything else i could have pulled out of my arse. thank you for reading!!


	2. "i hope dream gets off the train track"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> listen the original idea was based off tommy "recently" hitting dream with a train (thats how fucking old this chapter is) and the story kinda ran away from me at that point. so. i present to you: a silver of tommy. and dee and eff. and world building. shit actually, probably goes down in the next chapter HAAHHAHA
> 
> heres the link to tommy's video, its literally the front part [of this lol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFcpJKE2ZmE)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *debbie ryan hair tuck  
>  _hey_ \--[GUNSHOTS]
> 
> i missed this. im sorry i was gone for so long-- but I'm back now 
> 
> i just........i didn't even have like stuff to do haha. i just opened this, looked at what i wrote, and basically noped the fuck out. so this is version 3! and it still kinda sucks maybe but honestly i dont know hahasdhjkf im,,,really, really grateful to everyone that left comments and kudos and bookmarked and subbed. it means a lot to me tbh, even if ur just hitting da kudo button.
> 
> please. please constructive criticism i beg 
> 
> anyhow here's to hoping i manage to get up more of the story! 
> 
> enjoy!

Smacking his fingers against his keyboard angrily, Dream frowned at his screen. _Eloquent,_ he thought dryly, staring at the text smash. Saving the document, he shut down his laptop and flopped onto his stomach. He'd spent...gods. He spent a total of five hours simply sitting in his bed, trying really, really hard to write a small bit for a charity. They'd approached him as a hero, as a copywriter. He'd accepted, of course, because he wasn't a bitch about to turn down a _charity_. And now he had four weeks to write a few pages worth of a touching segment on the meaning of goodness and how amazing people were and holy _shit_ was he the shittiest writer in the world. 

Maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration. Maybe he was being a little harsh on himself. Rolling himself out of bed, he headed to the kitchen for a glass of water to clear his head from the fog of sitting and writing (read: scrolling through Reddit) for so long. Grabbing his phone off the staircase-- _how did it get there?_ \--he scrolled through his messages. George going live in ten minutes, Sapnap crying about his college homework. What could he do? He technically had today off, which was why he'd try to get actual work done.

Tapping into George's contact, Dream considered calling him. Live in ten meant at least nine minutes to spare, right? He pressed call, watching as his face appeared on the screen. 

_Christ._

He hung up, opening his camera app instead and mussing around with his fringe. Frustration came itching up his skin as he stared back at himself. _Move, Dream._ George had sent him a series of _???_ in response. He sent back an apology and a good luck wish for his stream.

He swiped to Bad's contact.

Dream: hey  
Dream: you guys have a room for me today?

***

"Dream!"

"Bad!"

"Hello!!"

"Hi!!"

Dream grinned as his friend pulled him into a tight hug. "It's good to see you! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Bad laughed and squeezed him. "Good to see you here at a normal time. Training 3 is empty."

Bad released him from his grip, gesturing in the direction of the room. Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Thanks, man. Also..." He really should put in more commitment to his friends. "Do you wanna go for dinner together? Later? After training and a shower. I guess. We could, uhm. Try out that, uh, that place." Nailed it, Dream, speech 100 RIGHT there.

Bad's smile widened. "That would be great, actually. Though I hope you don't mind eating here?" Dream shook his head _no_. "I might be busy tonight with some paperwork but I'd love the company! It really has been a while, you overworked muffin."

"Wh--An overworked muffin?" Scoffing with mock hurt, Dream held a hand to his heart dramatically. "I can't believe you'd use such language with me. I'm going to go mourn with the training dummy now."

Bad's indignant splutter followed him down the hallway as he wheezed.

***

Munchy, local training centre for heroes, self defence classes and the like. Under Bad's meticulous planning, the warehouse was transformed into the hero training simulation it was now known for. It had training dummies, target practice rooms, moving targets, (moving) parkour courses (these Dream had a love-hate relationship with) and VR training rooms--which was were Dream was currently headed to. The best part about Munchy was that membership prices were kept incredibly low as it received lots of funding from heroes and schools. Dream himself was a proud VIP member, even though he wasn't exactly swimming in money. But he'd been friends with Bad for nearly a decade, now, and it wasn't like he was going to _not_ support his friend.

Sliding his keycard against the slot, Dream flicked on the lights of Traning Room 3. He'd often come to Munchy's training rooms to get a good workout. Today, however, he'd found himself here to punch his emotions out. Sticking his card into a slot in the wall, a monitor came humming to life before him.  
Tapping across the keys absentmindedly, Dream typed in his password and logged on, glancing at his statistics from his previous session. Oh, there was a note from Previous Dream too.

...Hm.

A few more taps later, Dream took a long gulp of water before grabbing the VR visor. Grabbing his baton and cuffs, he stepped into the larger part of Room 3, shutting the metal door behind him. Normally, anyone using the room had to have someone watching over them from the observation room, just in case anything went wrong. 

Dream wasn't really just anyone.

Starting in 5...

Bad obviously wasn't very pleased with that. Dream strapped the visor on.

4...

Though he'd eventually given up and allowed Dream to do as he pleased under the promise that he'd stop the simulation if he needed to. Dream fiddled with the strap.

3...

How'd he find such good friends?

2...

He'd better treat Bad to pizza, later.

1...

His baton extended with a _shnk_.

Good luck. 

The white screen of the headset disappeared. Dream took in his surroundings: alleyway, unconscious woman. A red timer ticked away merrily.

2:59.  
Then the ambulance and police would arrive.

For now, however...

A fist came flying towards his head. Ducking, Dream lashed out with an elbow, driving it into his attacker. They stumbled back. Dream sized them up.

First of all: huge, holy shit.  
Second: lightning sparked across their arms.  
Third: This wasn't the best time to be carrying a metal stick.

Tucking the baton back into its loop, he weaved left, right, left, as the other man (woman? person?) threw punch after punch at him. He let out a puff of air as he was kneed in the stomach. Stepping back quickly, he lashed out with a solid kick that connected with their shoulder as they let out a grunt of pain.

Dream glanced at the timer. 2:26.

He just needed to get them incapacitated before then. Stepping back, he bounced on the balls of his feet, returning the little jabs with those of his own, none really connecting or having much effect.

Then his head was grabbed, and Dream felt shocks of pain run through him as his attacker kneed him _and_ shocked mercilessly.  
Holy shit, what fucking difficulty did he set this at again?  
Headbutting them with a yell, Dream leapt back as the hold on his head was loosened, jitters running through him. He hated electrocution, goddamnit.

Turning, he kicked the man, a surge of pride flooding through him as it connected with his attacker's side. Turning back around, he lashed out again with more kicks, hoping to land one on their neck for a clean knockout. 1:57.  
Then Dream felt his leg being grabbed, and he cursed as his world was flipped upside down. Slamming onto hard concrete, he let out an oof. Bruises. Fun. Rolling quickly to the side, he tried to get up quickly, only for the man to kick him back down.

Gritting his teeth, he braced himself and grabbed the man's leg as it came down once more, feeling the shock of catching it run through his body. Throwing the man to the ground beside him, Dream cheered as they landed on their back.

He got up.

They got up too, obviously.

Unlike Dream, they were met with a sole to the side of their face.  
They fell and finally, finally, didn't get back up. With a click from the handcuffs, their hands were bound together, and Dream let out a shaky sigh.

The alleyway fizzled out. Dream's vision came back to the white screen, and he whooped in delight. A finishing time of 1:23.  
He'd been aiming for at least 60 seconds last time he'd come here, and he breathed out in shaky, adrenaline pumped breaths. Tugging the visor off, he unlatched the handcuffs from the training robot, which did a little salute before it shuffled back into position. Heading back into the observation room, he hummed to himself happily. 

Bad liked extra olives on his pizza too, right?

***

Dream was grateful that he bought extra pizza when Skeppy slammed open the door to Bad's office. Nevertheless, he gave Skeppy a suspicious side-eye as he took a bite off his pizza. Skeppy faltered in the doorway. Bad remained dutifully focused. 

"Hey! Is...is this a bad time?"

"Geppy!"

Bad tackled Skeppy in a hug so fast, Dream was pretty sure he'd actually shifted forms to get there. His suspicions were proved right as he saw Bad's tail swish through the air, turning back to mist even as he watched. "Bad!" The duo hugged like they hadn't seen each other in weeks. 

Not like Dream would know. 

But he was pretty sure Skeppy had been with Bad for like half the day, today.

He digressed. 

Tucking his legs up onto the chair, Dream munched on as Bad dragged Skeppy over to his comfy little sofa, patting a spot for him to sit. He began to zone out as the two started chatting amicably about their day, about Skeppy's shift, about the annoying muffin head who...did something. He wasn't really listening. Around the fourth slice of pizza later, he'd wiped his hand on a napkin and bid them farewell. Bad had the decency to look like he felt at least a little bad, though he was quickly absorbed back into the little world on his sofa. Dream couldn't blame him. 

Walking out of Munchy with his backpack slung over one shoulder, he took a moment to think about what'd he do now, alone. The sun kissed purple and blue bruises across the sky as it sunk below the city skyline. Storefront lamps came on, some lingering in the dark for an extra moment or so as their owners busied themselves with closing for the night; some busy with preparing for the hum of activity that came with the dark. Munchy's neon logo flickered to life, even though Dream wasn't quite sure why they needed more people confusing the hero training centre with a restaurant. Come _on_.

Walking down the street leisurely, Dream nearly let himself forget about the looming writing project. He passed by a 24/7 convenience store, glancing at the ads put up along the sliding glass. Carbonated _strawberry_ milk, huh. He guessed he should be happier that one of his biggest worries was just writing, and not like, trying to bring down a huge criminal organization. 

Not that there wasn't one, obviously. There were just too little leads, too little information for them to have a solid grip on taking them down for good, much to the frustration of many heroes in the industry. The criminal activity in ______ had always been low, anyway. Dream had heard of the criminal organization: secretive and exclusive only to those selected through a hard-to-pass trial. And at the top of it all, a ruthless man with a powerful...power. The entire thing seemed to be more of a rumour more than anything, considering how inactive they were now, but...

He stared into a closed shop display boasting dainty, beautiful ceramic. Handpainted flowers on teacups and pots curled around hand-sculpted handles. He walked briskly on. 

He'd heard of the rumours from his seniors, anyway. He was technically new to the job; four years of training to be a hero could never really match with years of experience his superiors or coworkers had on him, and while he'd learn to take what they said with a grain of salt, there was no denying that there really was a criminal overlord loose in his city. 

He glanced at his reflection as a long, sleek car zoomed by him. The beat of some music he couldn't catch thumped. 

Jogging his way towards a nearby coffee shop, he kneeled and set his backpack against the glass, fumbling for his water bottle. He took a sip, then rummaged through his bag again for his hoodie. Satisfied, he zipped everything up securely and continued walking.

Just a few more steps.

He twisted his head as though something caught his eye. He turned the corner, into an alleyway.

 _Shnk_.

His eyes widened in surprise as his baton passed right through the chest of his stalker. The boy cursed in a high yelp in surprise, too, and bolted away. 

"Wha--get back here!"

Chasing the red sleeved boy, Dream muttered apologies as he shoved past a group of friends drunk on camaraderie, and beer. He'd seen the boy in the background of his reflections and had planned to question him a little, freak him out a bit for freaking HIM out a lot. But now the little shit was bolting away, occasionally running _right through_ people, much to their (and Dream's) displeasure. 

Then it continued to go downhill as the boy ducked into a narrow alley and scaled _up_ a rickety ladder. Dream groaned. Giving himself a running start, he ran at the wall. Kicking off the corners of the wall rapidly, he grasped onto a window ledge and pulled himself up. Jumping, he continued to scale up, much to the shocked and disappointed exclamation of the boy. Dream grinned at him as he let himself onto the roof of the building. 

The boy, predictably, took off running. Dream sighed and continued after him. On a normal night, Dream might've appreciated the view from the rooftop. It wasn't very high up, which he also appreciated, but the view made Fairacre all the better to gaze upon, people simply having their fun, living their lives, carefree and thoughtless to their troubles for the night.  
He leapt over a gap in the buildings, rolling as he hit the ground. He glanced around. Unless red sleeves went down, he'd cornered himself on the rooftops. The buildings ended here; if he wanted to get to the other row of buildings, he'd need to go down and back up. Train tracks ran far into the distance, perpendicular to the rows of shophouses. 

The boy realized this too and turned around to face Dream, hands raised to his shoulders sheepishly. Dream stood there, staring at him. 

Menacingly. 

"Now, Big D--"  
"Who are you--"

They blinked at each other. 

"What the _hell_ do you mean _Big D_ \--"  
"I'm really sorry--"

Dream's eye twitched. He gestured stiffly towards the boy, who had the audacity to glare at him from over the bandana covering his mouth. 

"My name's Tommyinnit," The boy said, and looked at Dream like he expected recognition. Or praise. Dream raised an eyebrow slowly. "What--fine, it's alright. Not everyone gets the chance to know my name, anyway. Anyhow, listen, I'm really sorry I was following you, but trust me, there was a reason."

Train bells wailed in the distance.

"I'm waiting...?" Dream rested his hand on his baton, an action which didn't go unnoticed by Tommy. He sighed dramatically. Then his entire body seemed to shimmer like a mirage, and he fell straight into the floor. 

"What the fuck??" Dream stumbled back, surprised. There was a tugging on his back, his backpack, fuck, fuck. He whipped it around, off his shoulders, and unzipped it. His phone, his wallet, his--

Where the fuck was his mask?

Tommy popped out of the ground and did a ridiculous little bow, and then he ran. Dream, naturally, ran after him. And then Tommy jumped, right off the building, and landed on the train tracks painfully. He cursed loudly in pain.

Dream, who didn't have powers of intangibility, didn't jump. 

Yet. 

It all happened very fast. 

Tommy stared back at Dream, panic--no, _terror_ \--etched onto his face as the train thundered towards him. 

Dream put two and two together and realized Tommy missed his dramatic escape on the train. 

Dream jumped off the edge of the building, hit the ground, rolled. 

The train barrelled closer, and Dream scooped up the lanky teen. 

He threw him to the side. 

_Just what I needed,_ Dream thought as he looked into the blazing eyes of the trains for a split second. _New therapy material._

He was dead very quickly, the pain all-consuming and immense. He jolted back into his body, the phantom grasp of pain and death melting away. He picked at the grout in the flooring automatically. 12:00 am. Bathroom. Office. 

Why was he here?

He wracked his memory.

Oh.

 _George_ was outside, waiting for him to lock up. He'd promise to walk him home, yesterday, a few minutes ago. 

He had to move. 

Getting to his feet shakily, Dream grabbed the sink for balance. There was nothing wrong with him, technically. He had been sitting in the bathroom corner for like three minutes. He splashed water onto his face and tried not to think about the blinding lights or Tommy's expression.

After another minute of calming himself down, he opened the door, grabbed his laptop bag, and apologized to George, who had been waiting patiently the whole time. George tutted at his tardiness and Dream felt stupidly high, the memory of the day pushed to the back of his mind. They fell into quiet chatter the walk to George's house, stopping only once to pet a cat. 

"Goodnight, Georgie," Dream bowed, mockingly, and was reminded of Tommy. He straightened up a little too fast. George looked at him, really looked, and Dream wiggled his eyebrows in a last-ditch attempt at normalcy. Hand on the door, George bit his lip. 

"You could...stay, the night. If you wanted to." Dream's attention snapped back to George, in the gold of the streetlight, on his doorstep, pushing the door open. Letting him in. He wanted to agree, he wanted to stay with him badly, to allow George to wash away the memories the reset cursed him with just by talking, just by breathing. 

Wordlessly, he shook his head. He caught the hurt in brown eyes, flashing. He wondered if the guilt in his burned as bright, if George saw the way his lips parted in wonder. 

"Wait, no, George." George was already a step into his house. "I, uh, have stuff to do. Tonight. Alone. If..." He nearly crumbled under George's scrutiny. "If you want to we could...I wouldn't mind staying over. Tomorrow. Uh, tonight, actually, at 12 again."

The stare melted into something a little softer as the glow of the streetlight reached his eyes once more. 

"Okay. Tomorrow, then." 

The night held its breath and George leaned in close, to his ear. 

"Goodnight, Dream. Sleep well." Then he smiled and waved, shutting the door behind him with a click. 

Dream walked away robotically, because he wasn't about to be caught standing on George's front doorstep 'til the next morning. He did stop walking a few blocks down, however, when he made it to a convenience store. 

Staring at the colourful drinks, he thought, and thought.

_What. The. Fuck?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i watched multiple martial art fighting vids and also used my own knowledge of it to write that one(1) fight scene
> 
> so next chapter we'll see tommy again :) and hopefully dream will make it on time to george's house kekw
> 
> anyways hope u enjoyed lmao thank you so goddamn much for reading <3<3

**Author's Note:**

> well.  
> kudos comments etc are all thorough enjoyed and whisper yelled about so do leave some if u have feedback/liked the fic lmao
> 
> so yeah hope yall liked it lol dont forget to smash that like button like i smashed your mom!
> 
> for legal reasons, that's a joke.


End file.
